International Women's Day

A mother and child in a community run garden in Molia, Niger. Photo: David Ohana/ OCHA.

This year, International Women’s Day focuses on the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.

“Invest in rural women. Eliminate discrimination against them in law and in practice. Ensure that policies respond to their needs. Give them equal access to resources. Provide rural women with a role in decision-making.”UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Our Stories

Shaimaa Abdo El Naggar, 30, lives in Qena, one of Upper Egypt’s poorest governorates, known for its low income, poor infrastructure and lack of social services.
Like many others, she had to drop out from school at a young age, since education is still considered a luxury for girls in the region. Recmore

For decades Rukhsana Bibi lived the life of a housewife like most women in the village of Malikyar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. But everything changed when her husband, who had supported the family with his job in a local factory, was laid off when the business shut down without warning.
Rukhsanmore

In a young democracy like South Sudan, most disputes are still resolved through traditional, customary structures and institutions. Alice Adye witnessed how breakdowns within state institutions, including police as well as statutory and customary courts, undermined and victimized women in rural areamore